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Tag Archives: survivalguide

Obviously living alone requires you to be a little more focused on your budget and on what you should & shouldn’t be spending money on. I speak with experience because I sort of got fucked over last year and decided I wanted to live the party-lifestyle only to realize that yes I can sure party hard, but it would’ve been best in my pj’s at home.

Yes I did it all, the weekend getaways, the fancy dinners, the premium alcohol, the bars, etc. but then I got sent back to reality fairly quickly when I realized that my credit card wasn’t going to pay itself off.

My parents often told me this and told me that about budgeting and credit cards, but did I listen? Probably not as well as I should have. Sometimes in life you have to learn from your mistakes. In the meantime, I’m not your mom or your dad but just a friend giving you some advice.

Tip #1 Setup A Budget

This is EXTREMELY important and honestly I should’ve been more strict with myself about this critical step that could’ve saved me from owing Mr. Visa a shit load of money. Don’t skip this step please. It’s very easy, create a budget using Excel, or an online template. It’s very important to take account everything your spending money on. Making a budget can even help you realize why the heck you are spending money on certain things and help you manage your money a lot better.

Tip #2 Eating Out

I won’t go too much in depth here because I’ve actually written 5 Basic Tips On Surviving: Food Edition and it will encompass how you can save money by modifying a few eating habits and eating out is one of them. Trust me there’s nothing I love more than going to a nice restaurant to eat but then there’s drinks, a bottle of wine, etc. It’s important to pick and choose your nights out and definitely do not go out every weeknight. If you’re like me, young homeowner & living alone, try 1-2 times a month. Make those special nights count.

Tip #3 Shopping

So whether you’re a male or female, shopping can get out of hand for anybody. Car parts, home decor, clothing, etc. it all adds up VERY quickly. It’s important to include a section of your budget allotted to shopping, i.e. $150 on clothing twice a year or $300 a year on home decor. As for car parts and other larger projects like vacations (I specifically mention car parts because I am currently building a vehicle) you need to create a separate savings account for this, that way you can add a small amount weekly or bi-weekly without it affecting your priorities.

Tip #4 Setup Auto Withdrawals

It can sometimes get overwhelming to have several bills to pay, that’s why auto withdrawal can help you make sure your payments are on time. Late payments can hurt your credit & cost you a lot of money in interest fees. But at least with auto withdrawal you’re safe and this also helps make sure you don’t spend the money on things that are not priority.

Tip #5 Don’t Spend Money You Don’t Have

This ad is quite funny, but it’s extremely realistic. #debt

I cannot stress this enough and yeah my mom told me so many times and I didn’t listen, so maybe you won’t listen to me either but just realize that credit card companies like to target young consumers such as me and you and what they did was they kept sending me letters allowing me to raise my limit. I was always good at paying my bill in full until it got out of hand and I regretted saying yes to that first letter, and then the second and then the third… It’s okay to have a credit card and use it for the benefits that some of them offer but PLEASE don’t see as free easy money, make sure you can pay it off.

Alright so let’s get it out, there are tons of things we all hate cleaning. I can name you a bunch of them off my personal list but I don’t want to decide the general list for all so I reached out to my social network to see what they had to say about this topic. Let’s have some fun!

1- The Crapper A.K.A The Toilet

Alright so personally the toilet is not one of my favorites, and according to my survey others hate it too. So just the word toilet sucks and makes you think of shit…sorry but it’s true. Not that it’s long to clean but I think we seriously lack motivation to get the job done. It’s awkward and you feel gross cleaning it.

2- The Oven

Okay so this came up a few times as well, and I tend to agree, however I am specifically speaking about the inside of the oven, which quite frankly I don’t clean much (oh shit..shhh). The top is pretty easy unless your oven is from the 90’s and you gotta take apart the stove top, that sucks. Does cleaning the inside mean changing the foil? Tips are appreciated here!

3- Microwave

I cleaned it once and for all and put it in the cupboard lol, decided I didn’t want to deal with a microwave anymore. Although great tricks exist like the classic bowl of vinegar to get leftover sauces out and whatever else always explodes in there. Who else would like to join me on this microwave boycotting? When I crave popcorn I pull it out, use it, and put away again. Don’t judge me, join me. #FUMicrowaves

4- Dusting

I nominate dusting because it’s so long, you have to remove all your picture frames and other crap, then dust, then put everything back and then 2 hours later it’s dusty again. Why do you exist dust, why? And with 2 dogs, it’s even worst. So in this case, don’t put any decorations or picture frames on any flat surfaces, hang all your picture frames, sell your dogs on kijiji (I’m kidding, I would never) and live in a plastic bubble. Some things simply can’t not happen.

5- Cleaning Cupboards

A friend of mind recently did his and it made me realize how shitty this chore really is. I looked at my cupboards a while back and knew that one day I would have to, but I’m just not ready yet. Although this is long too, and you definitely need to book yourself a full day to do it all, I feel like it’s one of those things that you get so into it that you end up cleaning things in so much depth and BAM there goes your weekend…See you one day cupboards. AHHH just thinking about it…the classic tupperware cupboard LOL…Oh golly I can’t wait!

6- Shower/Bath

This is just f-ing annoying. It’s awkward as fuck and like almost an acrobatic workout. Again, remove all the shampoos, soaps, razors, etc. Spray the heck out of it and then get on your knees to scrub everywhere. Sounds like fun but its not. Its the thing we tell ourselves we should clean weekly but end up doing it once a month…No judgement here folks. Please feel free to share your bath/shower cleaning tips with us.

7- Vacuuming

This was brought up and I wasn’t sure if I’d include it but then I realized how much of a shit chore this is too. Especially with dogs in the house, they have turned me into an expert vacuum user. I don’t hate this that much except what I hate most about vacuuming is the actual vacuum. Suction is never as good as you think it to be. But then you’re going to tell me buy a more expensive vacuum cleaner…WHO THE FUCK SPENDS $500+ ON A VACUUM? sorry I had to yell it out because I’m bothered, bothered by the fact that good vacuuming exists but for $699. Fuck you.

8- Windows

Windows is a full process as in make sure you aren’t doing anything else this weekend because you’re cleaning windows! Luckily this can get done like 1-2 times a year, thank god. So much windex and paper towel and then the patio door is just always dirty because of the dogs. They don’t care that you just cleaned it…Don’t forget that you have to do the inside and the outside. Ladders & heights oh my! I don’t get freaked out by heights but I would rather have died living a happy life rather than ”died cleaning her windows”. Be safe, practice safe window cleaning. Get a harness or something lol, don’t be stupid.

This is typical and I have seen a lot, don’t lie about it we all have that drawer. Not sure what I’m talking about ?

Is it clearer now? Yeah that’s what I thought. Don’t be ashamed. Just let this be. A drawer like this is part of life, don’t think of it as a mess, think about it as a time capsule. Every few years you’re like ”okay I’m going to clean it now” and then you find all this memorabilia and useless shit you wonder why the heck you kept. So keep your lives exciting, let the drawer stay I say!

Do you ever feel like everything is going great for you, life is good, the relationship is good, everything at the house is good. When you find yourself in a position where you feel invincible, like nothing can go wrong, but then again, how can this be real?

Well the truth is, it’s not. If you’re life is so perfect and nothing is wrong with it well then f*** you. Seriously. Do you ever have these moments when all of a sudden the shit has hit the fan? I do. In fact, I have made myself an editorial calendar of the approximate times my shit will hit the fan and it’s based on a quarterly schedule.

Things are fantastic and out of this world for 4-5 months and then boom your car motor blows up and your dog suddenly needs emergency surgery. When this happens I just want to lose it completely and wake up from this horrible dream. Unfortunately it’s not a dream, it’s reality. What’s important is the crisis management plan you need to put in place.

Step 1

I’m a pretty emotional girl, so this may vary for you. I say let your emotions out, cry, scream, laugh…whatever it takes. My boyfriend told me I was talking in my sleep last Friday, saying ” Everything will be alright, everything will be alright (and I was laughing hysterically at the same time)”, so whatever works best for you, do it. Get all the negative out so that you can put your action plan into place and start thinking straight.

Step 2

You need to evaluate the situation(s). My car’s motor blew up, so my first move was to establish how much I paid for the car…Now on a side note I do have a background in auto mechanics and know a lot of people in the automotive industry so this event that is definitely a big deal, was a manageable big deal for me, having connections really helped.

So I paid $2000 for this car almost 3 years ago. If I were to “scrap it” it wouldn’t be a total loss because the car did serve me for 3 years and I didn’t have to put any money on it. Now my other option was to repair it and find a new engine, which is what I did. Calculating the cost vs. benefit made me realize that by fixing up the car I would be able to drive it for another few years.

*Fun fact: A lot of Japanese cars can go up to almost 400 000 km!

So yes I resolved my problem, but that’s only part of it. Money is the MAIN issue here. This is not free, were looking at $1100 in total cost of repairs & my dog needed surgery so I had to tack on another $400. Now I didn’t mention this before but ya I have 2 jobs (thank god). One full time career and one part time job that pays for the extra’s including the emergency situations.

Life is so unpredictable sometimes you always need a back up plan. You also need a cushion and by cushion I mean extra cash saved up for the occasional “life slapping you in the face” moments. It’s called life.

Step 3

Know where to cut down. In other words, lock yourself up, you’re not going anywhere and you’re eating tuna cans (not literally) but this is the survival attitude I want you to have!

You’re in “money saving mode” and on high gear too until you’re done with this. Don’t be dreaming of Martini’s, you’re drinking wine out of a box this week. (Ew gross don’t even do that!)

Just remember that you’ll manage to work things out. Just follow my 3 step guide: Panic, Plan and React. And remember, life goes on.